Ghost Stories

February 17, 2017

Lending a helping hand

Holy Ghost Prep sophomore Jack Pinkstone (pictured) recently built a fully-functioning prosthetic hand for a child. He plans to teach other HGP students how to do it in order to assist more children in need. To read more about Jack, click more.

Upcoming Events and Games:

News and Social Media

John Burke (pictured) is one of four freshmen students who are attending Holy Ghost Prep through the Maguire Independent Schools Scholars program—the others being Nicholas LaRosa, Shane Love, and Joseph Tufo. To read more about John, click more.

Copy: The Mother-Son Dance Committee has been hard at work planning all the details for this year's Mother-Son Dance, taking place on Saturday, March 4.

Volunteers are needed to help transform the Fieldhouse into the perfect setting for our Masquerade-themed evening for mothers and sons. Also greatly needed is help cleaning up after the dance. Please consider volunteering an hour or two of your time. Remember: "Many hands make light work," so kindly help out if you are able to. Visit our Sign-Up Genius for the volunteer schedule by clicking here.

We invite all moms and guardians to join us on Saturday, March 4, 2017 for our annual Mother-Son Dance. Please come and join us for an evening of dinner and dancing, and some mother-son bonding time. Whether you are a freshman mom, a senior mom, or somewhere in between, this evening promises to be fun for all! This year’s theme is Masquerade Ball. Please click here to register.

Senior Moms - Pictures Needed ASAP!

At the Mother-Son Dance, we recognize the seniors in a special way with a Senior Baby Photo Contest and a Senior Slide Show. We need you to mail an 8x10 baby photo of your son (COPIES ONLY … NO ORIGINALS!). These photos are displayed at the Mother-Son Dance and voted upon by the students for various awards. The senior slide show is a video of pictures of the Class of 2017 from freshman through senior year. The boys really enjoy seeing these pictures and we need you to email photos to be included in this slide show. Make this night memorable and fun ~ SEND PICTURES!! Please click here to view the flyer containing specific instructions on how to submit your photos.

Please join us on Monday, March 6 for our next meeting. We will begin with 7:00 p.m. mass in the Chapel, followed by refreshments and fellowship in the Dining Hall. You could be a winner at our monthly raffle or 50/50 drawings. "HGP MOM" aprons and Herff Jones HGP charms will be available for purchase. Tony McBryan of Custom Made Comfort will be offering two new products: Spring Sports Blankets and a new HGP blanket for the home. The Aramark school store will be open until the start of the meeting. Hope to see everyone on March 6th!

Hospitality volunteers are needed for the March meeting. If you would like to donate a dessert/appetizer or help with set up, please click here.

Call for Nominations

Nominations for the 2017-18 Mothers’ Guild Executive Board will be accepted at the March 6th Mothers’ Guild meeting. If you or someone you know has been considering joining the Mothers’ Guild board, now is your opportunity! Open positions include President, 1st and 2nd Vice Presidents, Recording Secretary, and Alumni Secretaries (2). Please click here for more information on this opportunity.

Give Back Greetings Fundraiser Update

Give Back Greetings is an ongoing HGP fundraiser. For those special occasions coming up this Spring—such as graduations, birthday parties, confirmations, First Holy Communions—be sure to order your invitations, announcements, and thank you cards from Give Back Greetings. It is a great alternative to Shutterfly, Snapfish, and other online greeting card companies, with 10% of each order given back to Holy Ghost Prep. Visit HGP.givebackgreetings.com to place your orders. Enter code HGPSAVE to enjoy a generous 35% off through June 30!

Save the Dates for Spring Show: Anything Goes

March Madness: Thursday, March 23, 2017, 7 p.m.

Join the HGP Alumni Association for the 3rd Annual March Madness Event at Chickie's & Pete's in Parx Casino. Your first drink is on us! Click here to RSVP! *Must be 21 or older to enter Parx Casino*

Save the Date: Tony Chapman to be honored April 5

Five high school coaching legends, including HGP's own Tony Chapman, will be honored at a Coaches vs. Cancer dinner on April 5 at the Great American Pub in Conshohocken. If you have questions about the event or plan on buying tickets to attend the event, please contact Bill Doherty, HGP's director of communications, at wdoherty@holyghostprep.org.

Nine HGP students earn All-Catholic Chorus honors

Nine members of the Holy Ghost Prep chorus performed with the All-Catholic Chorus on Sunday, February 5th at Bishop Shanahan High School. To read more about them, click more.

HGP and Villa Joseph Marie give pre-Flyers game concert

On Saturday, February 11th, Holy Ghost Prep and Villa Joseph Marie joined forces to perform at Wells Fargo Center prior to a Flyers game. Fourteen HGP Students and 25 VJMHS students attended this event and represented their schools with stirring performances of “Gonna Fly Now,” “Low Rider," “March from Raiders of the Lost Arc,” “We Are Family,” “Star Wars” and “Spider Man.” The Flyers won in overtime and helped to make for a very enjoyable afternoon for all.

Pre-order the HGP Class of 2017 portrait today

Catalano Studio will once again be taking the Class of 2017 Senior portrait order. If you are interested in pre-ordering the portrait, please click here.

HGP bowls over the competition

Holy Ghost Prep's bowling team continued its 2016-17 dominance as John Schrenk (left) and Ryan Callahan (right) faced one another for the BAL singles title on Feb. 15. To read more about it, click more.

Class Registration Information for 2017-18

The 2017-2018 Course Registration process is off and running! Juniors met with department chairs on January 24 and January 31 to hear information regarding electives and course selection. The College Guidance department is currently meeting individually with juniors to review and finalize senior classes. After juniors have met with the College Guidance department, sophomores will be scheduled with a college guidance counselor to discuss their options. Freshmen and their parents received a Google Form through email on February 13, so students can choose co-curricular classes. Once courses are entered in PowerSchool, they can be viewed by choosing the "Class Registration" tab on the left upon login. Please check the course requests regularly and if there are any concerns please contact the current teacher, Department Chair or Dean of Studies. A complete description of the course offerings for the 2017-2018 School Year is available on the HGP website under “Quick Links.”

Going the extra 26.2 miles

Dave Ventresca ’87, senior manager of marketing and digital strategy at Accenture, Inc, lost his wife My Luu to cancer in September, 2015 to cancer. In addition to her many professional achievements, My Luu was on a quest to run marathons on all seven continents. She completed eight races on six continents, missing only Antarctica. In March of 2017, Dave Ventresca and My’s brother Sang Luu (pictured here with Dave and My on their wedding day) will be running the Antarctica Marathon as a tribute to her and to help promote the the My Luu Memorial Fund, which benefits Y-Apply, a national 501(c)(3) charity dedicated to educating high-achieving public school students from diverse backgrounds on the applications and financial aid processes for top-tier colleges and institutions. To learn more about Dave's tribute to My Luu or to make a donation, click here.

HGP Basketball will host Springfield (Delco) in the PIAA 5A District One Tournament onWednesday, 2/22. Read more details atholyghostprep.org/athletics.

Important News from College Guidance

Reminder to All Seniors

Copies of letters of acceptance, waitlist, deferral as well as scholarship awards should be brought to or emailed to Ms. Kudla at tkudla@holyghostprep.org in the College Guidance Office. This information is confidential and is very important to keep our Naviance statistics up-to-date.

The Maguire Foundation

Holy Ghost Preparatory School is a partner with the Maguire Foundation, a philanthropic enterprise founded by James J. and Frances Maguire in October, 2000 that focuses its resources on education. The Maguire Foundation provides grants to grade school, high school, and college students so that they may have an opportunity to benefit from a quality education.

The Maguire Foundation’s mission is grounded in the teachings of St. Ignatius Loyola of being men and women for others. The foundation believes that partnering with educational institutions to provide scholarship assistance to children and young adults will help build a strong foundation for success.

HGP’s partnership with Maguire Foundation brings unprecedented value and opportunity to students. The partnership provides scholarship assistance to freshmen each year and supports them through four years of high school, as well as college students with scholarship opportunities to support students in selected institution’s through four years of matriculation. The goal of the Maguire Scholars Program is to support and enrich the leaders of tomorrow.

The Maguire Scholars Program

These need-based scholarships are available to seniors in high school who are applying to select colleges that are members of the Maguire Scholars Program (see list below). All applications are due to Ms. Dougherty in College Guidance no later than February 21, 2017. If you have any questions, please email adougherty@holyghostprep.org.

To be eligible for the Maguire Scholarship Program students must:

- Demonstrate financial need by having an Expected Family Contribution (EFC) of $0-10,000.

- Qualify for admission to selected institutions (see below).

- Have at least a 3.0 GPA or equivalent in high school.

- Be engaged in community service and/or extracurricular activities.

- Participate in regular counseling in accordance with university requirements.

- Agree to participate in an annual Maguire Scholars Program event.

- Complete a Maguire Scholars Program application (include a letter of recommendation from supervisor of a volunteer/community service or extracurricular activity).

- Student or family must contribute at least $5,000 per year to tuition, room, and board ($1,000 at a community college).

Holy Ghost Prep is partnering with Kaplan to prepare our students for the SAT test. Through this partnership, Kaplan will provide, at a discounted price, a Fundamental SAT Test Preparation course for students at Holy Ghost Prep. This prep class will be for the March 2017 SAT Test.

To find out more information and if you are interested in registering for this SAT Course, please see the attached flyer. If you have any further questions please contact AnnMarie Dougherty, Director of College Guidance at adougherty@holyghostprep.org.

HGP Fathers' Association Upcoming Events

Registration for the Fathers' Association annual Ski & Snowboard Trip is now open

This year's trip is scheduled for Sunday, February 26 at Blue Mountain in Palmerton, Pa. This Fathers’ Association event is open to the entire HGP community and families are encouraged to participate. Lift tickets are $71.00 and include a $15.00 voucher for lunch. Ski and snowboard rentals are also available and are listed on this attached form.

Registration forms and payments made payable to HGP Fathers Association should be mailed to Greg Braun at the address below no later this evening, February 17.

Communion Breakfast: May, 2017

Suggestions welcomed for both keynote speaker and Service Award nominees.

Know an alum who recently had a baby? If/when you get the news about the child, can you pass along that information (boy/girl & name) to Advancement? We can be sure that our database gets updated while taking the opportunity to send a gift to the newborn!